No US military action during inter-Korean talks: Trump
By Kim Rahn
U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed that there will be no military action by his country against North Korea as long as the two Koreas are engaged in talks, according to Cheong Wa Dae, Thursday.
Trump said this during a phone call with President Moon Jae-in the previous night, a day after the North and South held their first high-level talks in almost two years to discuss Pyongyang’s participation in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics and other issues.
In the 30-minute phone conversation, the U.S. president dismissed speculation about possible military action against the North.
“Trump said The Wall Street Journal recently reported he was considering military action against the North but that this was not true,” Moon’s chief press secretary Yoon Young-chan said. “He asked Moon to let North Korea know clearly that the U.S. will not carry out any military action against it while Seoul and Pyongyang continue to hold talks.”
The remarks show the U.S. president has softened toward the North, given that he used to say all options, including military ones, were on the table and that dialogue with the North was a waste of time.
US-N. Korea talks?
With such a change in his stance, Trump is expected to help create the mood for dialogue and have it continue, so North Korea will be engaged in talks on other expanded issues ― hopefully those for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Trump and Moon shared the view that the ongoing inter-Korean talks over Olympic participation may naturally lead to denuclearization dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang.
“Trump said his country is open if North Korea wants dialogue at the proper time and under the right circumstances,” Yoon said.
In a news conference in Washington, Trump also said, “We certainly have problems with North Korea but a lot of good talks are going on right now. A lot of good energy. I like it very much.”
He also said, “Who knows where it will lead? Hopefully, it will lead to success for the world ― not just for our country, but for the world. And we’ll be seeing what happens over the next number of weeks and months.”
However, whether North Korea will positively respond to Seoul and Washington’s plans remains unclear.
Inter-Korean talks would make more progress and Washington-Pyongyang dialogue would be possible only when North Korea shows its intention for denuclearization and suspends nuclear and missile provocations; but the chances of this are not high.
Ri Son-gwon, the leader of North Korea’s delegation, expressed strong discontent at the end of the Tuesday's meeting at South Korean media reports that the delegations talked about denuclearization, showing the North is unwilling to raise this issue.
Ri also said all of Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and missiles are not aimed at South Korea or any other country but only at the U.S.